Europe

Multi-sport

French broadcaster Canal Plus has unveiled a rebranding initiative for its pay-television and free-to-air channels as it seeks to bolster its position in the market.

Olympics

Question marks continue to surround the future of Olympic Games rights in Germany after a senior executive from public-service broadcaster ZDF criticised Discovery Communications over the stalled negotiations for a contract.

Rugby Union

French pay-television broadcaster Canal Plus has claimed a first with its coverage of Friday’s final of club rugby union competition the Top 14, while Vincent Bolloré is reportedly set to quit as chairman later this summer.

Multi-sport

Russia’s National Media Group has signed a deal with Viasat World – the new brand for the international pay-television channels arm of Modern Times Group – to form a joint venture to distribute Viasat’s channels in the country.

Football

Christian Seifert, chief executive of the German football league, told TV Sports Markets this week the latest domestic Bundesliga deals would entrench it as one of the world’s top three football leagues.

Football

The Mediapro agency acquired a slate of Spanish LaLiga rights this week in order to fill the schedule of its recently-launched digital-terrestrial sports channel Gol.

Cricket

UK commercial channel Dave continued its move into live sport with a deal for rights to this year’s Caribbean Premier League Twenty20 cricket series.

Football

Uefa increased the value of the women’s European Championship tournament hugely in a deal with France Télévisions last month.

Football

Romania’s public-service broadcaster TVR and general entertainment channel Antena 1 failed in a last-gasp attempt to block a deal by commercial broadcaster Pro TV for free-to-air rights to 23 Euro 2016 matches.

Ice Hockey

The Infront Sports & Media agency signed off relatively lucrative long-term deals for ice hockey’s World Championship in three markets last month.

Football

John Manning, research analyst for SportBusiness Intelligence examines television audiences in selected European markets for the 2015-16 Uefa Champions League.

Football

Polish pay-television broadcasters Cyfrowy Polsat and Telewizja Polsat have been asked to provide information about their activities in relation to coverage of the ongoing Uefa Euro 2016 national team football tournament by the president of Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

Minor Sports

AMC Networks International-Iberia, the Iberian division of US entertainment company AMC Networks, has joined forces with US gaming and media streaming firm Machinima to launch a new channel in Spain and Portugal focused on esports and gaming.

Cricket

The England & Wales Cricket Board is set to launch a tender for domestic rights this autumn, according to the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Rowing

UK rowing showpiece the Henley Royal Regatta has enhanced its exposure in its home market by agreeing a rights deal with pay-television broadcaster BT Sport.

Olympic Games

German public-service broadcasters ARD and ZDF are ready to cut off talks with Discovery Communications over a sublicensing deal for rights covering the Olympic Games in 2018 and 2020 if the media company does not lower its asking price.

Football

The four parties involved in the investigation by Italy’s antitrust authority, l’Autorità Garante del Mercato e della Concorrenza, into the sale of Serie A rights, which led to €66m ($74.4m) in fines being handed down in April, have filed appeals against the ruling.

Football

The Mediapro agency has acquired three packages of LaLiga Spanish football domestic rights for a total fee of €55.8m ($63m) over three years, from 2016-17 to 2018-19.